Philippe Vorbe (born September 14, 1947) is a former Haitian footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the

Haiti national football team The Haiti national football team (, Haitian Creole: ''Ekip foutbòl Ayiti'') represents Haiti in international Association football, football. Haiti is administered by the Haitian Football Federation, Fédération Haïtienne de Football (FHF), ...

in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. A legendary player in Haiti, he provided Emmanuel Sanon the pass that resulted in the famous goal that put an end to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever ...

's no-goal streak. Vorbe played for the

New York Generals The New York Generals were an American professional soccer team based in New York City that competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. Founded as charter members ...

and

Violette Athletic Club Violette Athletic Club is a professional football club based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. History Violette is one of the most successful clubs in the country. In 1939, Violette A.C. captured the double after winning the league and the Coupe d'H ...

. He ascended from player to leader and is now the coach of Violette.

International career

Vorbe was described in a February 1974 ''Observer'' article by Hugh McIlvanney as a "tall, handsome white man of French extraction" and a "graceful midfield player" with "impressive skills".McIlvanney, Hugh (February 10, 1974). "Tassy, voodoo 'Doc' of Haiti". ''The Observer''. p. 22 Having qualified for the 1974 World Cup by first knocking out

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in a play-off, then topping the final group in the capital Port-au-Prince, Haiti was drawn into a very difficult group featuring two-time champions

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, future champions

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, who managed third place in the tournament. The most famous goal of Haiti's World Cup run occurred against Italy. The ''Azzurri'' had not let in a goal in 12 games prior to the World Cup, thanks to goalkeeper

. However, in the opening of the second half, Emmanuel Sanon shocked the Italians with the opening goal, thanks to a spot-on pass from teammate Philippe Vorbe. However this lead did not hold and Italy went on to win 3–1.

References

External links

Philippe Vorbe NASL stats
1947 births Living people Footballers from Port-au-Prince Haitian men's footballers Haiti men's international footballers Haitian people of French descent 1974 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Championship–winning players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Haitian expatriate men's footballers Haitian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ligue Haïtienne players Violette AC players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players New York Generals (NPSL) players New York Generals players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Men's association football midfielders {{Haiti-footy-bio-stub